Method of making chains.



J. F. CRAVEN.

METHOD OF MAKING CHAINS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5. 1915. RENEWE-D AUG. 22. 1917. 1,242,324.

Patented Oct. 9, 1917.

\\\I MN in.

INVENTOR 5 M iiNiTEn erases ,i'f k snm essg JAM-Es 1a". CRAVEN; 0F G AFTO PENNSYLV NIA.

Specification cf Letters fies-m.

Patented Oct. 9, ism;

A' iplication filed A rils, 1915, Serial No: 1e2'24. Reilew'd-Afigiist22, 191a seriaiNo. 137,701.

To all whom it may comm; Yr

Be it knew-11 that 1, JAMES F. CRAVEN, a resident of Grafton; inthe county of A111 gheny and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvement in Methods of Making Chains, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method of making chains, and particularly forged or Wrought metal chains made from a single solid bar and thereby dispensing With Weld ing o erations. In the manufact'fire of chains of this'kind considerable di-fliculty is experienced in the final" severance of the links from each other; due to the inaecessi= bility of the fin integrally connecting a= cent'l-inks', which not only is com aratively small hilt also is surrounded' by' the two links sdthat only very small and consequently light seals can reach it, it being also quite factory ant'oniat'ic ni'Cli-aflifli for operating upe n this l Theobje'etof the present invention; to

provide method which enables the fin 'i'n tegrallyeoniiecting adjacent links" to be easily ieached fer manipmatien by a tool td'r'eadily sever the links, which enables the use of astron serviceable tool fer the severing? operation;- which can be carried perms; which can beiised for; the prodnc tio'n offor'g'ed metal chains of any weight and size, and*' which also subjects; I each link to a twistingor torsional action and-tlierb reinforces final-stren thens the same, all-lwitli the finaliesiilt' 'ol? Inate iai-i-y rediicingthe cost improving the strength and qtiali: ti'e's'oi chains ef'thi'sk'ind;and also enabling chains to liernarle of inetals' whicheannet bew'vlded, etc. 7 i

claimed. a Y

111 the drawings; Figure 1 is aaiagram matic View illustratifigthe cassettes-a chain by m 'fiiethod'fFig; 2- is a similar Vi'eti illustrating the maniifac'ttire of a series of integrally connected links which fa re. 'siibseqnei'itly"severed to fo'riii' the fi-I'l 'she'd l is 'a cross section: on the line Fig-351s a perspective View of thetri-mming s'uc'h as' copper, bfassgaldi ninu'r'n, v I

1 Q k sis connectediothose'linkswhich have 'al 'inv'eiitidn comprises the several Ine'th'od steps" hereiiia ftef described i dies, and Fig. 6 is a similar View of the link severing; device's. r

Briefi y stated, this method consists in I first forming from suitable bar stock a seriesof integrally connectedpartially formed chain links, then shifting the relative pos-i'tions of each two successive links to expose the metal fin integrally connecting said us assume thattheeperatorissupplied with a series of integrally ccnnectedchain links 'forilled fromfla' solid bar in any of the Well known wa s, su'ch an integral link bar being represented by the successive links marked 5, 6,-7 and -8'in Fig. 1. These links-arcinterlockedwith: each other, are substantially completely-formed or; shaped, and succes- Save links are integrally connected to each or Walls; one of'Which is indicated by the fine dotted-dines at 20yFig; '1. This fincalr ordinarily be reached only by a-tool applied at an" angle of 455 degrees to'the plan'es'o'f the twolinks 7' and 8; It is confined or so other here they iiiterledkr by small? fins inclosed' by said ilinksso that it is 'notwholly exposed and can only-be reached by" mm delicate tocl and cannot be eiliciently 0p er'a'ted upon with the links i in the positions shown forsevei'ing'them frcm eachother.

' Tncarrying'0utmy method eacll twowslic i cessiyef 01"" adjacent links are shifted; reia tively"t o each other" to expose saidifin' to sever theli'nks This canbe done in variolis Ways, such asby shifting the position of either link Whileholtlingrthe other stationg l ary, or by moving both; links. The link 8 ready been severed'frbin eachotherbyprevieu's" operationsand can be -nio're readily V mafiipnlatedthan thelin'k 7 WhichisI-fasitened to thee'n'd portiomof the'bar; con;

sequently Ij prefer to hel'd the link '7" sta tionary and Inove' 3 the link"8 Which is bent rotated laterally arennd'an axis perpenelements the planeoif thelink-T and pass-' ingthrough the end portion of the link 8 at the point marked A in 1 1." Linki8 is sea-111g" around throi'i'gh a" suitableuang'le,

tvhich usually is '90-; degrees or -more,: being shown as turned fr'oilith positionin dotted lines to that in full lines, Fig. 1. ln this so that it is subjected to a twisting or torsional action, which not only affects that portion of the link directly connected to the link 7, but also extends around the body portion of the link, the effect dying away with the distance from the fin 20. It is well known that when metal is subjected to a torsional action sufficient to produce a permanent. set therein its, ability to resist bending and tensile strains is increased. Consequently the strength. of each link is mcreased by rotating it to expose the fin 20, the efifect being most pronounced at the points where two links are integrally connected. Moreover, by severing said links without removing the metal of the fin 20 this fin can subsequently beworked into the bodies of the links to additionally reinforce them against tensile and other strains.

The series of integrally connected links can be formed in any suitable manner. For example, a rolled bar 25 of cruciform cross section and having two Webs 26 in planes at right angles to each other may be subjected to the action of notching dies or cutters which act successively upon the two webs 26 to remove small, substantially triangular portions of the metal, as indicated at the shaded portions marked 27, Fig. 2,. and subsequently subjected to the action of punching dies 28 whose cutting portions, in cross section, are of the shape shown in Fig. 5. These punching dies will act successively upon the two webs 26 ofthe bar and remove the central portions of the links, which are shown shaded at 29. The notching dies and punches can be carried by a common movable punching head past which the bar 25 is fed step by step, being turned back and forth through an angle of 90 degrees so that the cutters or punches will act successively upon its two webs. This leaves the bar in the form of a series of partially formed chain links 30, as in Fig. 2, connected by the integral fins 20 shown in Fig. 1 which can be exposed for severing the links from each other, as before described. The links are subsequently worked up into finished form in any suitable manner.

If desired, the metal can be worked up into the form of a series of integrally connected partially formed links from a solid bar. without materially removing metal therefrom by forging or working either wholly or partially the triangular portions 27 and the central portions 29 of the links into the links themselves. One way of doing this is by passing a solid bar of suitable cross section through rolls having operating faces formed to simultaneously work the bar into the cruciform cross section, form the triangular notches 27 between adjacent links and either wholly open out the central portions of said links by working the metal into the links themselves or partially by thinning down the shaded-portions 29 to a thin film or web, as shown in Fig. 4:- These operations can be most conveniently and satisfactorily carried out if the partially formed links are of circularform, whichincreascs the area of the central open portion of said links and enables the subsequent use of substantially 7 circular punches of maximum size and strength for removing the centralwebs or film. In Fig. 1 the integrally connected links 1 to 8 inclusive have been formed in the manner just described, each link having a central thin web or film 29 and an outer circular body portion 31 which is, substantially circular in radial cross section, simi: larly to the link shown in Fig. ,4:- Tl1ese integrally connected links are advanced step by step through a suitable machine, being alternately turned back and forth through angles of degrees between successive operations. Atthe position represented by the link3 the central thin webs or films29 are removed by punching tools of the form shown in Fig- 5, leaving said links connected by the fins '20. As each link reaches the position of the link 8 it is bent or rotated to one side and severed bya tool carried by the same head which carries the trimming die 28 and cooperating with a similarstationary tool. This tool may be of the form shown in Fig. 6, having a knife-like side portion 32 for pinching off the fin 20 from i the link 7 and a concave portion 33 for shaping up said link. The severed or separated round links finally reach the position of the link 12 in Fig. 1, where they are sub;

jected to the action of suitable shaping tools j or dies for flattening them into the oval form of the link shown at 13, which is the usual form of chain links. At any suitable point in the machine each link may besubjected to the action of a suitable forging or shapingtool for working the'metal ofthe fin 20 into the link and smoothing up the twisted without straining its fibers or impair ing its strength, but on the contrary rein.-

forcing it by the twisting action as described. This method enables chains tobc made economically and at a high rate of speed on simple automatic mechanism, and also ma terially lowers the cost and increases the strength and other qualities of the chains.

What I claim is l. A method of separating integrally connected links formed from a solid bar consisting in shifting two successive links relatively to each other around an axis transverse to the bar to expose the connecting fin, and then severing said links.

2. A method of separating integrally connected links formed from a solid bar, consisting in bending one link to an angular position relatively to the adjacent link with out changing the position of the connecting fin to thereby expose said fin,' and then severing the links.

3. The method of separating integrally connected links formed from a solid bar, consisting in bending one link to an angular positionrelatively to the adj acent link to expose the connecting tin and simultaneously Copies of this patent may be obtained for twisting the metal of one link to reinforce the same, and severing saidlinks. 4:. The method of separating integrally 5. The method of separating integrally connected links formed from a solid bar,

- consisting in rotating'one link about a transverse axis through its end portion and thereby exposing the connecting fin and simultaneously twisting the rotated link, and then severing said links.

p In testimony whereoflI have hereunto set my hand.

' JAMES F. CRAVEN. Witnesses:

ELBERT L. HYDE, GLENN H. Lnnnsorrmfive cents each, by addressing the commissioner of 2atents, Washington, D. 0. H

25 connected links formed from a solid bar, 

